Stock futures higher before speech

Oracle, Bernanke speech due out after market close

This is an update to correct the ticker for Newmont Mining in the sixth paragraph.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures rose on Monday, helped by gains in overseas stock markets, with expectations that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in a speech will try to leave some ambiguity on interest-rates expectations a week ahead of an official decision from the U.S. central bank.

Oracle Corp.
ORCL, -0.61%
is the key company to report earnings on Monday, though the software maker results will come after the close of trading.

Pfizer Inc.
PFE, -1.22%
may see activity after a report in The Sunday Times (of London) that British consumer products company Reckitt Benckiser PLC is lining up financing and retaining Merrill Lynch as an adviser for a possible $10.5 billion ($6 billion pound) bid for Pfizer's consumer products business.

On Thursday, Colgate-Palmolive Co.
CL, +0.63%
President Ian Cook told an investors conference that his company would look "very, very aggressively" at buying the brands.

Meanwhile, Pfizer rival Merck & Co.
MRK, -1.87%
is expected to announce a deal with privately held Neuromed Pharmaceuticals to develop painkilling drugs, according to a New York Times report.

Wal-Mart Stores
WMT, -1.93%
could draw attention after an executive at the world's largest retailer said the company could hire 150,000 people in China over the next five years and open 20 stores in the country in 2006.

General Motors
GM, -2.45%
also could see swings, after its board reportedly asked top management to explain newly uncovered accounting problems that forced the company to delay its annual report. Separately, GM, Delphi Corp. and the United Auto Workers union reportedly continued talks on a possible labor deals that could lead to contract buyouts of thousands of Delphi employees.

A group led by billionaire investor Carl Icahn late Friday filed notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it may "attempt to convince other stockholders to oppose the merger" between Lexar Media Inc.
LEXR
and Micron Technology Inc.
MU, -0.73%

Last week Micron, the biggest U.S. maker of computer-memory chips, said it had agreed to acquire Lexar for about $690 million.

Also on the M&A front, R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.
RRD, -1.23%
the printing company, announced it is buying closely held outsourcing company OfficeTiger. A report in The Wall Street Journal put the value of the deal at $250 million.

Michaels Stores
MIK, -2.55%
rallied 13% after it said it's considering strategic alternatives to boost shareholder value, including a potential sale, and has retained J.P. Morgan to advise it. The Irving, Tex.-based arts and crafts retailer added that CEO R. Michael Roleau is retiring, with Jeffrey N. Boyer and Gregory A. Sandfort named as co-presidents to replace him.

Telecom equipment stocks were mixed in pre-open deals, with Ericsson
ERICY
extending Friday's gains after its bid for bankrupt Riverstone Networks, while Lucent Technologies
LU
was lower after a critical article in Barron's magazine.

Overseas, Australian stocks broke the 5,000 level behind gains in the resource sector, while PetroChina
PTR, -1.20%
after the Hong Kong close reported a 28% increase in profit during 2005. See Asia markets.

In Europe, another rally for insurance stocks lifted markets across the Atlantic.

Prudential plc
PUK, -0.68%
which isn't related to the U.S. insurer of the same name, rejected a $30 billion stock-swap proposal from Aviva, while shares of Zurich Financial extended Friday's gains even as St. Paul Travelers
STA, +37.50%
publicly denied it's in talks to buy the Swiss insurer. See Europe markets.

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